


Trouvaille

by UnorganizedLetters



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, Nicole is a werecougar, Who knows when this will be finished? I certainly don't.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-03-30 01:43:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19032175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnorganizedLetters/pseuds/UnorganizedLetters
Summary: trouvaille (n.)Something lovely discovered by chance





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for a while and I hope that by posting it I'll be motivated to write more. I'm a Grade A Procrastinator.

Waverly had always seen herself as a practical person, someone who knew exactly how to respond in the right situation. That's how she became to be known as Purgatory's sweetheart, with a smile and a wave paired with a well-placed comment she had managed to endear the whole town to her. But she didn't want to be just known as a simple small-town girl destined to never go anywhere so she also worked her butt off in school, becoming valedictorian of her small high school. And with the help of her Uncle Curtis, she got an online college degree.

So yeah, Waverly was a practical person. She's currently trying to remind herself of that fact as she creeps towards the barn on the Homestead with nothing but an empty shotgun in her hands. She had meant to buy bullets for it while she was in town earlier but with Revenants constantly causing problems in town her plans were put on the back burner. That was the first mark against her on her practical reputation, what she's doing right now would probably be the second.

She had heard a groaning noise coming from the barn a few minutes ago and since she was the only one at the Homestead right now, she decided to check it out. The only reassuring thing was that it couldn't be a Revenant but that left the multitude of other supernatural creatures it could be available. Ever since the Ghost River Triangle had been open the Black Badge Division had been dealing with all types of things from a lost giant to a mermaid that lived on land and swam in the air, that one in particular had been a real _interesting _case. With an empty gun barrel, she doubted there was much she could do to save herself, besides maybe hitting her opponent upside the head with the gun. If they even had a head because as it turned out, not everything did. Who knew?__

____

Waverly slid the barn door open an inch as quietly as she could, her heart racing. She should've texted Wynonna when she had the chance, when she was still in the safety of the Homestead and not about to possibly face death itself. It was too late now, she was already committed to her task. That, and she could see russet colored eyes staring back at her. 

It was too dark in the barn for Waverly to tell what was attached to the eyes but whatever it was let out a growl, starting low but growing more powerful every second. Waverly flinched, if she thought her heart was racing before then it felt like it was trying to climb out of her throat right now.

After an intense stare off Waverly realized that whatever was inside of the barn hadn't moved to attack her. She both wanted to know what it was and why it hadn't moved to hurt her yet and she was determined to find out. Her Aunt Gus had always said that curiosity had killed the cat but it Waverly might end up being the one to die today.

"Screw it," she whispered and threw the barn door wide open. The barn became flooded with light and when Waverly finally saw what was inside the barn, she gasped.

There, on the hay covered floor of the barn, was a cougar. A fully, grown cougar. A fully, grown cougar that looked like that if it wanted to, it would have no problem tackling Waverly to the ground and taking a chunk out of her neck.

But something was wrong with it. It was leaning heavily to the right, it's left front paw hanging a couple of inches off the ground. It was hard to tell from its brownish-red color (Waverly didn't even know that cougars _came _in that color), but there seemed to be a vicious wound on the cougar's paw, the only thing that really clued her in was the pool of blood on the dirt covered floor of the barn. The large cat took an awkward step backward, taking up the growling it had stopped in surprise when Waverly had thrown the door open.__

____

Logically, Waverly knew that she should just run back to the homestead and call animal control to take care of the cougar. But Waverly had a bleeding heart and everyone in town knew that when it comes to cases like these, animal control would just shoot the poor animal dead. She couldn't just let them do that, not this time. 

She swallowed the lump in her throat, evaluated her life choices one more time, and then crept into the barn. She noticed that the cougar didn't step back again, and she wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing.

"Maybe it wasn't curiosity that killed the cat, but the other way around," she mumbled to herself. It was in her Earp genes to make quips in the face of death and if this was her day, then _goddamn it _she was going to do it. "Um, it's okay. I'm just trying to help you because, you know, you're bleeding quite heavily," she addressed the wild cat. She figured she was already crazy for _approaching _the darn thing, might as well _talk _to it too.______

__

____

__

"I'm just going to grab the towel over there," Waverly pointed to a towel hanging on a hook on the wall of the barn. It was a little dirty, but she figured the cougar wouldn't be able to tell anyway. "Then I'm going to approach you and see what I can do to fix you up."

And the surprising thing is, the cougar let her. Sure, it kept its eyes on her the entire time, but it didn't growl or attack when Waverly got close enough to pet the fur on its head. She was really tempted to too if she wasn't so sure that she would lose her hand if she tried.

Waverly glanced down, spotting the origin of the blood rather quickly. It had been hard to see earlier because of the combination of the color of the cougar's fur and the distance but now close up, it was hard to miss.

"Wow, that's...bad." The cougar let out a huff as if in agreement, lifting its left paw higher so that Waverly could get a better look. If she was in her right mind, Waverly would've questioned that action. But since she obviously wasn't, she didn't.

The wound stretched from the shoulder almost down to the paw. Blood leaked out of it in a steady stream which didn't seem to be letting up at any moment. There was already a rather big pool underneath the leg that was spreading to other areas. Something terrible must've happened to this poor creature. 

Waverly glanced down at the pitiful towel in her hand and then back to the wound. "I don't think this is going to cut it. Hold on, I have a sewing kit in the house."

She ran to the door of the barn, only glancing back once to make sure that the cougar hadn't moved. It did, but only to lay down on its right side and close its eyes. Waverly rushed even more inside the homestead at that sight, rustling inside a few drawers until she found what she was looking for and a few things that she had spontaneously decided to add to her search.

By the time she got back, the blood pool had increased by a few centimeters. That doesn't seem like much but when dealing with matters of blood, any amount is too much. She wasted no time in getting closer to the cougar, no longer afraid. With the way it looked, she doubted if it could even lift its head up to snarl at her.

Waverly quickly got out a needle and attached a thread to it, cauterizing it with a lighter that she had remembered to grab at the last minute. "I just want you to know, what I'm about to do is completely necessary, even though it's going to hurt like a bitch. I'm sorry about the pain but please don't hurt me in retaliation.

"And yep, I'm completely crazy now. I'm talking to this wild cat like it can understand me. You can't, right?" Waverly glanced down at the cat's face and it opened one of its eyes in response. The look she was given was a mixture between disinterest and pain. She went back to stitching the wound. "Right. Well, the talking helps me focus, so you're going to have to either deal with it or get your help from someone else." The cougar closed its eye again. "That's what I thought," Waverly harrumphed.

"I am curious about something though," Waverly said. "Cougars are sort of common around here and I've seen a few of them in my life. But I've never seen a cougar with as red as fur as you before. And I've never seen one with brown eyes. Brownish yellow eyes, sure. But never just brown. I wonder if it's a mutation you have. Oh, or maybe you're a new species or subspecies. How cool would that be, huh?" Waverly finished up the last stitch, leaning back to look at her handiwork. "Not the best work that was ever done but I think it's pretty good considering I'm not a trained vet or any type of vet, really ."

The cougar hadn't moved since Waverly had started, and she was worried. It doesn't matter if the wound was closed now or not, if too much blood had been lost then the cougar would die either way.

Waverly turned around, rummaging through the bag that contained the extra supplies that she had thought to bring along. She pulled out a couple of cooked steaks (Wynonna would be mad when she discovered them missing, they were leftovers and the girl loved her some leftovers, but Waverly would cross that bridge later) and put them down in front of the cougar's face. Its nose twitched before it opened its eyes, hunger shown clearly on its face. It tried to sit up to be able to eat them but couldn't gather up the strength. With defeat in its eyes, it went to lay back down.

"Wait," Waverly practically screeched. The cougar jumped, its ears tilting away from her in warning. "I'll help you sit up. Just promise me that you won't mistake my hand for one of those pieces of meat."

The cougar switched its eyes away from her and back to the meat so Waverly took that as the acceptance that it probably wouldn’t.

It took a lot of effort on her part to get the cougar in a position that it could actually eat in but once it was, the large cat wasted no time in digging in. Waverly smiled, when it didn't seem like it was going to kill her the cougar was actually kind of cute.

Her smile dimmed a little when she realized that this wasn't going to be just a one-day thing. The cougar would need time to heal and regain any strength that it had lost. Waverly glanced at the poorly stitched wound, coming to the conclusion that it would be a few weeks before the cougar would be able to walk on it, maybe even longer. She couldn't even imagine how long it would take to heal so that the large cat could hunt for food on its own. With a firm nod, she decided that she would need to care for the cougar until it was better.

Strike three, practical Waverly was out. The new and _definitely _not approved Waverly was in.__

____

__

"Hmm, if I'm going to take care of you for a while I'm going to need to know what to call you. Now let me just check one little thing...," Waverly glanced down at the cougar's backside, prompting a growl from the still eating animal. She wasn’t sure how the cougar was able to tell what she was looking out, but she wasn’t going to question it. "Right, now that that's cleared up, let's decide on some names. You let me know which one calls to you, okay?"

"Scarlet." 

The cougar didn't respond, instead just moving on to the second steak.

"Rose."

Nothing.

"Cranberry."

Waverly couldn't be sure if the growl was directed at her or at the steak but she moved on just in case.

"Blaze."

The cougar licked its lips in satisfaction after having consumed its unearned meal.

"Umm...okay, how about Rubrum?"

At that the cougar blinked, tilting its head to face her. The look it was giving Waverly seemed to express that it didn't mind that name, but Waverly wasn't a master at reading cat's faces.

"Really," Waverly said in disbelief. "You respond to the word red in Latin. A word that if you searched it on Google, will show you red maple even though that's technically Acer rubrum or everything but the actual definition. That word." The cougar laid back down, closing its eyes. Waverly shrugged, "Okay then. I guess that's your name now."

"Waves," she heard. "Where are you?"

Oh no.

Oh _no. ___

____

__

It was Wynonna, she was back an hour before she was supposed to be. If Waverly had been being mauled by a wild animal she would've appreciated that fact but not right now. Not when the aforementioned wild animal was actually pretty peaceful and hadn’t even attempted to hurt her, not even once. She hadn't had time to come up with a good story to tell Wynonna on why she thought it was even _okay _to be this close to a cougar, let alone take care of it for however long it needed.__

____

____

If Waverly knew anything about her sister is that she was of the protect-friends-and-family-first-and-then-ask-questions-second mindset. And Waverly appreciated that, she really did. She especially appreciated it when she had been kidnapped by revenge obsessed Revenants. But not _now. _Not when the cougar couldn't talk and answer any questions Wynonna might have for it. Not when Wynonna would go for the kill shot immediately.__

____

____

"Uh, I'll be out in a second Wynonna," Waverly shouted back. She frantically searched with her eyes for anything that could be used to cover and hide the cougar but there was nothing. The cougar was just too big for everything they had in the barn.

"What are you doing in the barn?" Wynonna questioned. Her voice was closer than before which could only mean that she was walking towards the barn instead of away from it like Waverly desperately wanted. Waverly stood up, walking swiftly to the barn door and blocking Wynonna from being able to see in.

"You know, just, um..." Waverly trailed off at the end. She didn't have anything to say but the truth but she wanted to keep that to herself for a little bit longer. Thankfully Wynonna didn't even notice.

"That's not important. I was just in the Homestead, right? Going through the fridge because you know after a mission I get super hungry. I noticed that I was missing my two perfectly cooked steaks. You know them, right? Medium well, juicy, and _mine. _You don't happen to know what happened to them, do you? " Wynonna asked. She had a grim face, as if someone had told her that powdered donuts were being discontinued in every company on the face of the earth. The girl took her food seriously.__

____

____

Waverly winced, she knew Wynonna was going to notice but she didn't think it would be so soon. She had hoped for at least a day of peace. "I ate them."

Wynonna narrowed her eyes, " _You _ate two ninety-six ounce steaks? By yourself? You, the vegan?"__

____

____

"Yep," Waverly chirped. "I was famished after a long research session. Just had to replenish my energy and the steaks seemed like the best way to do it."

"Sure," Wynonna nodded slowly. It was obvious that she didn't believe Waverly. She had to think of something else to talk about before Wynonna asked more questions.

Turns out she didn't have to worry about _that _problem too much considering there was a crash from inside the barn. But that brought a whole new problem to the table, a table that Waverly was considering turning into scrap wood for all the good it's done her, maybe have a bonfire in the future with it. It probably wouldn't even make good firewood though, it was just that bad.__

____

____

"What was that?" Wynonna gripped Peacemaker while it was in its holster, her defenses up.

“Nothing,” Waverly said. “What are you talking about?”

“What was that noise?”

“What noise?”

“That crash that was just in the barn!”

“What barn? We have a barn?” Oh butterscotch, did she really just ask that? What barn? Like she didn’t walk out of the barn, like she wasn’t standing in the doorway of said barn _right now? ___

____

____

“Waverly,” Wynonna yelled. She drew Peacemaker and practically pushed Waverly out of the way, now impatient. “What the…?”

Waverly hurriedly turned around, her heart racing once again. If things kept up at the rate they were going, Waverly was going to need to give her heart a vacation at some point.

But as it turned out, Waverly didn’t need to worry. The barn was devoid of a cougar, the only things left to prove that it was ever there were the pool of blood, sewing kit, and the broken barn window.

“Waverly,” Wynonna trailed off. “What were you doing in here?”

“Well…”

****

“No,” Wynonna barked.

“But she needs our help! She’s out there all alone and is hurt to boot,” Waverly begged. She wasn’t even sure why, she should’ve been happy that the cougar was gone. It wasn’t her problem anymore, out of sight out of mind. But that wasn’t true for Waverly in this situation. Oddly, she had felt a connection with the cougar. Maybe it was the fact that she had stared death in the face and lived to daydream about it.

They were still standing in the barn, Waverly having told Wynonna the entire story of what happened. Wynonna had been upset with her and no matter what Waverly said would not budge in her position. She was, rather oddly, not in favor of going to search for Waverly’s lost cat.

“And that’s none of our business! Waverly,” Wynonna turned to face her and put her hands on Waverly’s shoulders. “I hate to be the voice of reason, in fact I should usually never be the voice of reason but obviously you need that from me right now. That’s an actual wild animal you’re obsessed with right now. Just because it let you get close one time doesn’t mean it’s going to let you do it a second time.”

“But…” Waverly dragged out, her bottom lip poking out and tears building in her eyes.

Wynonna glanced away, if there was one thing that made her weak it was her baby sister’s tears. She had never been able to say no when Waverly pulled that look on her, not even when she knew it was fake. In fact, when she left Waverly alone with Gus and Curtis she had to sneak out in the middle of the night because she knew she wouldn’t have been able to leave if Waverly caught her.

Luckily, before she had the chance to look Waverly in her eyes and cave immediately afterwards she heard another voice join them. Dolls had somehow walked passed the two of them without them noticing somehow. Forget Black Badge Division, the dude was a certified ninja that breathed fire.

“What happened here?” He asked.

“Babygirl here got _really _attached to a cat. Like, super attached,” Wynonna explained. Dolls squatted next to the puddle of blood and dragged two of his fingers through. Bringing his fingers to his nose, he sniffed them and frowned. “Ew, dude, what are you doing? That’s so gross and this is coming from the woman who ate a donut that had been on the floor for two days.”__

____

____

“All of this,” Dolls started skeptically, “came from a cat?”

“It might have been a decent sized cat,” Waverly chimed in. “I don’t know, maybe around the size of a cougar.”

Dolls stood back up, his knees not even cracking a little. Wynonna was a little jealous about that, every time she stood up it sounded like someone had dropped a million marbles on the ground with how many of her joints popped. 

“Well, whatever size it is, it seems supernatural. I can’t say I’m a hun-”

“Another reason why we shouldn’t go after it! It could be a trap,” Wynonna proclaimed proudly. “Revenants can’t get on our land anymore, so they send some other supernatural creature to do it for them. Stupid thing got hurt though and couldn’t do its end of the deal.”

Waverly scoffed, “You and everyone else knows the Revs aren’t smart enough to come up with that plan.”

Dolls interrupted their argument, an intense stare leveled on Wynonna. “As I was saying, I’m not a hundred percent if it was a werecat or just an extremely large domestic cat. It doesn’t matter much now, we have to investigate it no matter what.”

“What?” Wynonna said. She had been childishly sticking her tongue out at Waverly so when Dolls said they actually had to find the cougar she was so shocked that she didn’t put her tongue back in before she started talking so the word came out awkwardly.

“C’mon Earp, let’s patrol the perimeter. If the amount of blood I’m seeing on the floor means anything it’s that whatever this thing is, it didn’t get far.”

Wynonna complained under her breath, just loud enough for Waverly who was still standing near her to hear, “Boss man always telling me what to do, I would quit if I wasn’t the only one who can use the big gun.”

“I heard that, Earp.” Dolls walked out of the barn, Wynonna grumpily following behind him.

Waverly stayed behind, rooted to her spot. She stared at the pool of blood, not fascinated by it but instead questioning its existence. If the cougar was some type of werecat that would explain some of the behaviors it exhibited. How it showed Waverly its hurt leg, how it responded to a certain name but ignored the rest, how it even knew to run before Wynonna had a chance to enter the barn. 

“Waves, come on! I don’t want to be out here all day,” Wynonna yelled.

“Coming,” Waverly yelled back. She spent a second more staring at the pool of blood before following after Wynonna and Dolls.

****  
A couple of days had went by since Waverly had helped the cougar and she was again at the Homestead alone. Wynonna had went out with Doc and Dolls to deal with a problem clear across town and Jeremy, the quirky guy that he was, basically lived at the BBD office. She spent quite a bit of her time there as well but every now and then she needed to breathe the air from the outside world. She never saw Jeremy do the same, he was there before she was and stayed longer than she did.

Waverly had been doing some research in her room for hours now and she decided she earned herself a break. Standing up she stretched, causing her back to crack. She really needed to stop spending hours upon hours bent over ancient books.

She walked down towards the kitchen to get herself a glass of water and instead ended up with a heart attack. At this rate her heart would quit before she could give it the vacation it so rightfully deserved.

Laying on the couch that Wynonna found on the side of the road and decided was an absolute steal was the cougar that they’ve spent days searching for. It gazed placidly at Waverly, its eyes hooded as if it just woke up from a nap. Waverly dragged her own eyes across its body until she landed on the sight of its wound and smiled a little proudly. It looked like her rudimentary stitches had held up and not a single one of the stitches was popped.

But back to the actual matter at hand, there was a possible supernatural creature just chilling on her couch like it had bought real estate there. The cougar had decided that Waverly wasn't a threat, which was rude because she could be dangerous if she had to be, and had rolled onto it’s back with its eyes closed. Waverly was a little tempted to pet its belly to see how soft it was.

“Hey,” she said indignantly. She waited to see how the cougar would respond which turned out to be a waste of her time because the bug cat didn't even twitch a muscle. Waverly frowned. “Hey,” she repeated.

This time she got a response, a tiny twitch of the big cat's ear. At least now she knew it was listening. 

“What are you doing here? How did you even get _in _here?”__

____

____

The cougar rolled off the couch, gently so not to irritate its still tender wound, and trotted over to the wide open front door. It looked at the door and then back at Waverly a couple of times as if to ask how else would it have gotten in. Waverly must have been too focused on the couch's unusual occupant to even notice that the door was open.

“You know, if Wynonna didn't constantly leave the door open and invite the same family of raccoons in every time she rushed out on a mission I would ask if you opened that door. But you can't do that right Rubrum? Because you're a completely normal, non-supernatural cougar who just is a little bit too tame,” Waverly narrowed her eyes. Dolls suspected that this was a shifter and Waverly was starting to think so too, it was way too calm and trusting to be a wild animal.

The cougar just yawned and scratched behind its ear with one of its hind legs. It flinched when it accidentally pulled at its wound and let out an indignant mew that Waverly absolutely did not find adorable.

Okay, she’s lying. That little mew was everything Waverly didn’t know she needed in her life.

Once it was done scratching the cougar just stared at Waverly. It was a little unnerving how the big cat could go so long without blinking. It reminded her of when she was four hiding from Ward’s belt and ended up underneath the porch with a cat that she assumed to be domesticated simply because it didn’t attack her face. The black cat only blinked three times in the hour that Waverly was under the porch with it before Ward had dragged her out by her ankles. Her screams had caused the cat to run away and she never got to see it again.

A nudge at her hip gently brought her out of her thoughts. Absentmindedly her hand went to the head of the beast and she stroked its soft fur. The feel of its fur reminded her of a satin blanket, one of her favorite types of blankets. There was another nudge and Waverly finally noticed what she was doing.

“Rubrum,” she shrieked and backed away from the big cat. The cougar tilted its humungous head in question. “Why are you so close to me?”

The cougar gave what Waverly could assume was its quietest roar in response. When Waverly continued to only stare at it in confusion the cougar twirled around her legs, truly resembling the domesticated cat right now, before prancing its way into the kitchen.

Waverly would have been content to leave the cat in the kitchen by itself if she hadn’t have heard the fridge opening and a clattering noise come from in there. She rushed to join the big cat to see that it had found the vegan meatloaf that had been in there for a couple of days. It had been a new thing for her to try cooking and let’s just say that not even the raccoons wanted it.

She was tempted to take it away from the cougar but she wanted to keep her arm and there was no point taking it back when it already fell on the ground. Instead, she just watched as the cougar sniffed around the failed cooking project. It gave a test nibble before backing away from the food, hissing wildly.

Waverly frowned, disappointed. She had really hoped that someone would like the food she made. She glanced away from the cougar who she hadn’t noticed had stopped hissing and was instead staring at her curiously. It glanced at Waverly then at the monstrosity on the floor and sighed.

Waverly glanced back at the cougar to see it once again nibbling at the vegan meatloaf. It had a pained expression painted on its face, the pain only seemed to increase with every bite taken. The poor thing was probably starving and here Waverly was throwing a fit over something she already knew was disgusting.

“Stop,” she told Rubrum. “You don’t have to keep eating that. I’ll just get you another one of Wynonna’s steaks.” The cougar looked up at her, relieved that it didn’t have to keep up the façade of enjoying the kitchen mistake.

After she gave some steaks to the cougar and finally got her glass of water, also leaving out a bowl of the clear liquid for the cougar, Waverly retreated back to her room. She figured that if the cougar really wanted to destroy something it would have done so already. No point in watching a well-behaved cat.

It was a few minutes later when a red paw clawed underneath Waverly’s closed bedroom door. She tried to ignore it and was almost successful at it until a mouth was pressed against the small crack between her door and the floor and a loud meow was released into her room.

Waverly sighed and got up to open the door. “You know, if I had wanted to be bothered by a cat I would have gone to a pet adoption center. I’m sure there were plenty of cats there that weren’t gigantically and ridiculously huge. Ones that, I don’t know, couldn’t kill me with a swipe of their paw.”

The cougar ignored her mini rant to rush inside her room and leap up on her bed. It stretched its large body across her queen sized bed and released a contented grunt and closed its eyes.

Waverly snorted, choosing to just let the big cat stay there. She did nervously push at it until it adjusted its position to give her some room though. With each shove she was convinced she was going to lose a finger but miraculously she never did. All the Cat did was roll over until Waverly stopped bothering it.

She worked silently and diligently, only occasionally sparing a glance at the cougar resting near her. There were a few times where she was shocked to find her hand hovering only a few inches above the cougars soft looking fur without her even knowing that it had moved but traitorous hand and wandering eyes aside, she was able to peacefully coexist with the wild cat.

Though now that she was thinking about it, she wondered how soft the fur actually was. Her hand twitched, desperate to touch the cougar's fur. She slammed her hand back into lap, doing her best to resist the temptation. As if sensing her struggles the big cat peaked open one of its eyes.

She had never noticed it before but the cougar had soulful brown eyes, eyes that looked like it could make her question everything about her existence. She glanced away quickly remembering that you're not supposed to look a wild animal in the eyes. 

It was while she was determinedly not making eye contact with the cougar that she felt something glorious nudge up against her hand. She gasped, yanking her hand back on instinct. Waverly glanced down axe the cougar to watch as it placed its big furry head on her lap displacing some of the research papers she held there. Brown eyes stared up at her as the cougar bumped its head into her stomach.

“Really?” Waverly asked, not quite believing what she was being given permission to do. The big cat just closed its eyes in response a soft purr vibrating against Waverly's legs.

Slowly, as to not spook it, Waverly placed her hand above the cougar’s back. Her hand was hovering mere centimeters above the silky fur. She could practically almost feel it. This would be the first time she'd touch the cougar's fur, she didn't count the time where the cougar was bleeding out and she had to sew it up, so she was really excited. Of course the second her fingertips are about to make contact Wynonna walks in.

“Waves,” she starts, slamming the door open with no care for privacy. She only pauses when she sees the cougar who had stood up when the door crashed into the wall behind it.

Both the cougar and Wynonna had paused, staring at each other in a combination of shock and question. At once they both moved, Wynonna to draw Peacemaker out of its holster and the cougar to rush at her. Waverly screamed, panicked that at least one of them would be losing blood tonight.

The cougar roared at Wynonna causing her to stumble out of the doorway and her grip on the gun to somewhat slacken, allowing it to squeeze through and rush down the stairs. Both sisters followed to watch as it ran out the front door that Wynonna had once again left open and disappear in the fields outside.

“Um, so,” Wynonna began.

Waverly snapped, “I don't want to hear it.” She then stormed back to her room, slamming the door closed and making sure to lock it this time. She was a upset at Wynonna for having the ‘shoot first, ask questions later' attitude, especially when it has something to do with Waverly. 

“Okay,” Wynonna whispered to herself, sitting down on the couch downstairs. She plucked a red piece of fur from the couch cushion. “Okay,” she repeated.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how to write Doc or Dolls characters and it's been a while since I've seen the show so, you get what you pay for and this is free.

The atmosphere at the Homestead was tense for a while after that. Every time Waverly would see Wynonna, she would glare at her silently. Usually, Waverly was all sunshine and butterflies but when she was mad at you, damn you could really feel it.

Wynonna was currently in the kitchen, drinking some of her favorite drink mixes. Hot chocolate and whiskey. It sounds disgusting but once you’re drunk enough, you no longer care what the shit you’re putting in your body tastes like. Dunking a powdered donut in it did make it go down smoother in the beginning though. That was exactly the scene that Waverly walked in, Wynonna buzzed and covered in powdered sugar.

Waverly frowned, but still didn’t otherwise acknowledge Wynonna. She just walked to the fridge and stared inside for a while.

Clearing her throat, Wynonna started, “How come even when the fridge is full, we claim that it’s empty and that there’s nothing to eat?” She gave a lame chuckle.

Wynonna saw hazel eyes narrow as Waverly reached into the fridge to pull out a couple of celery sticks. Waverly closed the fridge and leaned up against it, slowly chewing on one. The initial crunch made Wynonna flinch as a pair of eyes narrowed in her direction.

“C’ mon Waves, you can’t still be mad. I didn’t even shoot your new pet!”

With fury burning in her eyes Waverly slammed her celery sticks on the table. “Because of you, I haven’t seen it in days! If you stopped waving your gun around like it was another appendage maybe you would have seen that it wasn’t hurting me! Instead, all you can think about is how fast you can pull the trigger.”

Waverly stormed out of the room before Wynonna had the chance to even consider answering. Groaning, she pulled out her phone to do something that she never liked doing.

"Doc, I need your help with tracking something down."

****

Doc managed to track the cougar to a cave on the outskirts of town. They peeked through the bushes they were hiding behind to watch as it slept the day away, a drowsy paw occasionally reaching up to swat at a determined fly.

"So, this is the thing that has Miss Waverly all tied up in a knot?"

"Seems like it," Wynonna squinted, leaning deeper into the bush to get a better look. There on the side of the cougar was Waverly's messy stitches, something she only knew about because Waverly had snapped at her and told her that the big cat was injured and was barely a threat in its current state. In her quest to get a better look, Wynonna fell into the bushes causing a big ruckus and embarrassing her even more in her already sad life.

The cougar immediately popped up in surprise, a growl emanating from deep in its chest as it looked around to find the source of the disturbance. Brown eyes roved the environment until it stopped right on Doc who had stood up to draw attention away from Wynonna. His hand slowly reached down to trace the barrel of his gun and seeing the movement the cougar growled louder. It took a hesitant step towards them, not willing to back down and show fear.

"Doc," Wynonna hissed, "What the fuck are you doing? We didn't come here to shoot it! Waverly would kill me, find some way to bring me back with her super smart mind, only to kill me all over again!"

The cougar's eyes whipped to Wynonna, seemingly noticing her presence for the first time. A glint entered its eyes, a glint that looked suspiciously like human-like intelligence. It tilted its big head to the side as it backed up to sit on its haunches and gaze at Wynonna. It ignored Doc's presence entirely to focus on her and though she would never admit it to anyone if asked, Wynonna was scared. She could handle demons and Revenants, she could handle running out of whiskey and donuts, what she absolutely could not handle though was the hyper-intelligent gaze of a possibly supernatural wildcat.

"H-Hey," Wynonna stuttered. "How's it going, um, shit. I don't remember what Waverly said she named you."

"Rubrum," Doc mumbled to her. Not only was he a fast sharpshooter but he had the memory of a goddamn elephant.

"Shit, right. It has the word rum in it, you think I would be better at remembering it."

The cougar huffed as it looked between the two of them for a moment. Deeming them as nonthreats, the cougar turned around in circles and pawed at the ground around it. With another huff, it laid down facing them, it's eyes half-closed as it kept a lazy watch on them.

“Um, Rubrum,” Wynonna started, “I know we aren’t the best of friends right now, mostly my fault I’ll admit. But Waverly is really worried about you since you haven’t shown up at the Homestead in a while. She’d really appreciate if you came to visit again.”

The big cat lazily blinked its eyes at her and Doc awkwardly scuffed the toe of his boot against the sandy dirt. “You reckon it knows what you’re saying?”

Wynonna watched as the cougar shook its head and yawned. Slowly it got up and walked towards them. Doc once again reached for his gun but there was no reason for it since the cougar had walked past them to hop into the back of the truck that they had ‘borrowed’ from Dolls.

“Yep, I reckon it does.”

Wynonna approached the truck warily, her heart beating fast in her chest. Doc was only a few paces behind her as he went to sit in the passenger’s seat. Even he held a slight grimace on his face. The only one who seemed to be calm was the damn cougar itself. It lounged lazily in the back of the truck as it started to nap again.

Wynonna quickly got into the driver’s seat and started the truck, glancing back every now and then to make sure the cougar wasn’t gearing to attack either one of them. “Back to the Homestead, I guess.”

They made it back in record time, Doc rushing Wynonna to hurry with his eyes but no words and Wynonna on her own deciding to speed and almost run over an elderly lady. She didn’t want to be in the car with the cougar longer than she had to.

Doc jumped out of the truck only seconds after it stopped, his hand once again on his gun as he stared at the back of the truck. Wynonna was starting to think he had a problem and coming from her, that was a serious thing. 

The wildcat leaped out of the truck and trotted right past Doc, no longer threatened by him putting his hand on his gun. He had done it so many times that the cougar probably thought he was all talk and no shot.

Wynonna was the last to leave the car, watching as the cougar walked to the front door of the Homestead and scratched at the door. When there was no satisfactory response the cougar turned around to glare at Wynonna, as if it was saying, “Well, you brought me here. Now let me in.”

Taking the hint, Wynonna trotted up to the door and unlocked and opened it. Not waiting for her to fully open the door the cougar brushed it open forcibly with its big head. It passed by Wynonna and unwillingly rubbed its body against her in order to do so. Even through her tight pants, Wynonna could feel how soft it was. Immediately the cougar went to the fridge and standing on its hindlegs opened the freezer with its front paws. Poking its head into the freezer it sniffed around a bit before grasping something in its teeth and yanking it out.

Doc hovered next to her, “It went into the freezer and took your steak.”

Missing the point entirely Wynonna replied, “I knew Waverly was lying when she said she ate my steak! I knew it! Wait, why is it eating it frozen? It’s not thawed at all.”

Gently shaking her Doc repeated, “It went into the freezer and took your steak, Wynonna. That ain’t no regular cougar that Miss Waverly is so fond of. That there is a shifter.”

At his words, the cougar’s head snapped up, a piece of cold raw steak hanging in its mouth. This was the moment that Waverly walked in on because of course it was. Fate could be a fickle bitch sometimes but when she wanted to play a joke on their lives she was one hundred percent committed to it.

“Hello Doc,” she greeted, continuing her days' old practice of ignoring Wynonna. She brushed past them to enter the house, “Why are you just standing in the doorway? If we had any cold air to let out it sure would’ve been by now.”

Waverly continued into the house until she noticed what they were staring at in silence. Doc because he was waiting for Waverly to find the answer to her own question and Wynonna because though she suspected, a big piece of her still refused to admit to herself that the cougar was a supernatural creature. Because if it indeed was then that would mean that Wynonna would most likely have to put it down and she really didn’t want to. Waverly was so attached to the damn thing.

Gasping, Waverly stopped in her tracks. “Rubrum?”

The cougar mewed in response, it’s tail wagging slowly behind it.

“Wha-how? Wynonna?”

Wynonna had to forcibly snap herself out of semi-depressive state, “I saw how much you missed it so I thought I could help reunite the two of you.” And later put it down forever, but Wynonna didn’t speak that part out loud. “Doc helped me track it.”

“By helps she means I did all of the work while she sat in the truck and ate donuts.”

Waverly quickly approached the big cat, kneeling down next to it to give it a big hug. Surprisingly, the big cat allowed it and even rubbed its head against Waverly’s face and released a small purr. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” Coming back to herself and remembering that she was hugging a wild animal, Waverly scrambled back under the guise of checking on the cougar’s stitches. “Doesn’t look like any of them tore or ripped, good. Good.”

Waverly twisted her head to face the two other humans in the house with her. “Thank you, guys. Really. I know y’all think I’m crazy for bonding to a cougar but I really feel like we have a connection.”

Deciding to give Waverly alone time with her new friend that might have to die in a few days or so Wynonna backed her and Doc out of the doorway and back to the truck. “We’re going to go, okay? See you in a bit, babygirl.”

Waverly merely hummed at them, her attention back on the cougar. It had resumed eating the hard as rock and cold as an iceberg steak but glanced up when Wynonna made her announcement. The two of them stared hard at each other for a moment, a silent understanding passing between the two of them. With one last hard glare, Wynonna left the Homestead. Left her baby sister alone with a shapeshifting cougar.

****

Waverly reached out to touch the red fur of the cougar, desperate to keep contact with it to make sure it was really there even though she could see with her eyes that it was. The skin and fur of the cougar jumped at the initial contact, but she wasn’t mauled so she figured Rubrum was fine with it.

Rubrum finished the steak it had after a few more moments. It looked up at Waverly, soft brown eyes connecting with her hazel ones. It seemed big cat was in tune with her emotions because it butted its head against her face again and started purring again.

Letting out a gentle laugh, Waverly smiled, “I was really worried about you. I know we haven’t known each other long but you’ve become really important in my life.”

The wildcat meowed at her as if in agreement and considering that Waverly figured she lost her mind a while ago so there was no harm in it, she responded. “Really? I’m happy you feel the same way. Now, how about we go up to my room and I read you a passage from one of my books? You like Ancient History, right?”

Rubrum squinted its eyes as it considered her for a bit. After what Waverly felt was deep scrutiny it got up to lead the way to Waverly’s room.

Waverly smiled, giddy for the first time in what felt like forever and followed after the cougar. “I was thinking we could read about one of the many fallen empires. One of the best subjects in my opinion.”

The wildcat mewed as it waited at the top of the stairs for Waverly to finish climbing.

“Okay, we can agree to disagree. But I’ll sway you over to my side eventually.”

They passed hours like that, Waverly reading to Rubrum as it lay on its side with its eyes closed. If Waverly stopped reading for even a second one of the eyes would peak open until she started up again and the eye would slip closed. 

Their peace was disturbed though when the front door downstairs slammed open and loud thumps were heard coming up the stairs.

“Wait,” they heard Wynonna shout. “Dolls, wait! Waverly doesn’t know yet!”

“All the more reason for us to get her out of this situation,” Dolls replied, his deep voice penetrating their peace even more than all of the other noises had.

Waverly’s bedroom door busted open seconds later as Dolls entered with his gun waving in the air until he found his target. Rubrum. “Okay shifter, get away from the girl and come with me peacefully and you won’t end up with a bullet in your brain.”

The cougar got up from where it was curled into Waverly’s side, a deep growl starting low in its throat. It moved to cover her from the perceived danger, sharp claws digging into the many blankets on Waverly’s bed. Waverly slowly stood up, unsure of what to do or what even the meaning of all of this was.

Wynonna burst into the room, coming upon the scene out of breath and visibly tired. “Dolls, please just wait. It hasn’t attacked anyone as far as we know, and it’s had plenty of opportunity and reason to try to kill me. Maybe it’s a good one for once.”

“I’m not willing to take that chance,” Dolls clicked his safety off and held his gun tighter in his hands as he aimed for a solid shot on the wildcat.

Seeing that it was the target of Dolls aggression the cougar did what it did the last time it was threatened in this very room. It ran.

But instead of running for the doorway like it did with Wynonna this time the cougar ran for the window, breaking through the glass as it jumped out of the second story window to the dirt and grass below. Dolls cursed and tried to follow the cougar with his gun. He raced to the window.

Finally acting, Waverly blocked his path and prevented him from shooting the cougar as it made its escape. “Stop! Why do you guys keep doing this?”

“Earp,” Dolls grunted in frustration as he tucked his gun back in its holster. The shifter was long gone by now and had probably done what it could to make itself untraceable. “You want to explain this to her?” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a demand.

“So you see,” Wynonna started awkwardly. She always hated being the one to deliver the news to people, she left that to journalists and suckers. “Rubvodka might possibly, though I’m like eighty-five percent sure, be a shifter. Like a werewolf, but you know, a werecougar instead.”

Waverly gasped and turned to face the window that the cougar had broken in its haste to escape. She would have liked to prove them wrong but when she really thought about it, it made sense. Rubrum showed signs of intelligence that was abnormal for a cougar. It also knew how to properly respond to emotions and Waverly’s numerous questions for it. And the fact that a supposedly wild animal was extremely tame, allowing her to pet it without any trouble.

If Waverly hadn’t have been so desperate to befriend it she probably would have figured all of this out herself. Instead, she had to learn it from others and feel thrown off her feet by the news.

She glanced down when she saw movement out of the corner of her eyes, her heart beating faster at the thought.

On the broken pieces of glass were traces of blood.

****

It had been a week since Waverly had learned the truth about her new friend and she hasn’t seen the cougar since. She suspected that it knew that she knew the truth and was afraid to come back around her in case she decided to betray it and trap it so that Dolls could do what he promised to it.

She would have liked to say that that was exactly what she would have done, that it was the right thing and Waverly always did the right thing, no matter what. She would have liked to say that she would never stick up for it and lie to her friends and family about its whereabouts if she knew where it was.

But all of those things that Waverly would’ve liked to say were lies themselves. She had a strong internal feeling that if Rubrum had shown up in front of her today, she wouldn’t turn it in. Instead, she would do the best job she could do to keep it safe and protected as she waited patiently to earn its trust enough that it would change into its human form for her. That way they could hold actual discussions and talk about the best way to keep them on the proper side of Black Badge Division.

Waverly was in the police department thinking about this, leaning against the reception desk as she waited for Wynonna to finally come out of the back. They were going Revenant hunting, a new lead finally showing up after weeks of radio silence. Waverly was desperate for something to do and keep her mind off of Rubrum and its disappearing act.

“Hi,” she heard and her head snapped up to see a shock of red hair and a shiny police badge. “I’m Nicole. Nicole Haught. Can you point me in the direction of the sheriff’s office, please?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have no idea where I'm going with this story to be honest, just kind of going with the flow. I'll accept ideas if any of y'all have any, otherwise I'll just keep on trucking.


	3. Chapter Three

Red hair.

The woman had red hair.

_Red hair. ___

__Someone else she knew also had red hair or fur as it was called. Rubrum._ _

__Now Waverly wasn't one to jump to conclusions, except she definitely was. But not this time, not in this situation. She didn't want to look crazy in front of the other woman in case it turned out that she wasn't actually a shapeshifting cougar._ _

__But it was a pretty hard thing to ignore. There were not many redheads in the entirety of Purgatory, as far as Waverly knew. And she knew a lot. She didn't graduate as valedictorian from the only high school in Purgatory based on her looks._ _

__The woman knocked on the reception desk, snapping Waverly out of her deep thoughts. "Um, are you okay? You look a little woozy."_ _

__Waverly internally shook her head, "Y-Yeah. I'm fine, thanks though." She then gave the woman her patented sunshine smile, "I'm sorry but what did you say your name was again. My ears randomly popped and I happened to miss it."_ _

__Brown eyes narrowed at her before an easy smile full of dimples took over her face. "Nicole Haught. H-A-U-G-H-T. I don't know if you need to make a note of that in your book or not."_ _

__Waverly mentally made a note of that, Nicole Haught was about to get the research of her life and she didn't even know about it. Something she said rang in her head though. "Note in my book?"_ _

__"Yeah," Nicole drawled confusedly. "Aren't you the receptionist?"_ _

__"Oh!" Waverly glanced down at the desk she was standing behind and easily got how the other woman would come to that conclusion. "No, I'm not. I'm just waiting for my sister. I don't think this station even has a receptionist, to be honest."_ _

__Nicole hummed in response, leaning against the desk. Waverly's eyes darted down to her covered stomach, knowing that if there was any evidence that Nicole was the cougar besides the obvious it would lay there._ _

__Trying to determine if she had x-ray vision or not, Waverly missed the arrival of Wynonna and jumped when there was suddenly an arm wrapped around her shoulder._ _

__"Hey baby girl, you ready to get out of here?" Wynonna noticed the other person there and immediately narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"_ _

__Waverly gasped and elbowed Wynonna in the stomach at who hissed at the impact. "Don't be rude, Wynonna. That's not how you introduce yourself to someone."_ _

__Wynonna grunted, "When have I ever been anything but rude? You're asking too much now, Waverly."_ _

__Nicole laughed easily, interrupting their banter. "It's fine, I don't mind. I've encountered way worse back in the city."_ _

__Wynonna just grunted again in response, clearly done with the conversation already. Waverly smiled in apology, somewhat ashamed for allowing Wynonna to act like this even though she was a grown woman._ _

__“Haught,” a gruff voice interrupted their conversation. Nicole’s eyes drifted over their shoulders to look at the owner of the voice. “What ya’ doing standing around for? I still got papers for you to sign.”_ _

__“Sorry Sheriff Nedley,” Nicole apologized. She brought her eyes back to the two women in front of her, her eyes seeming to linger on Waverly particularly. “It was nice meeting the two of you, hopefully, we get to see more of each other,” she winked and then walked over to Nedley a conversation already starting between the two of them._ _

__Waverly watched her go, wonder in her eyes. She had some serious investigating to do when she got home. And she was going to make sure to lock her door so that Wynonna couldn’t just barge in and find out what she was doing._ _

__****_ _

__Waverly was hours deep in her research and so far, she had absolutely nothing. According to what she could find, Nicole was as normal could come. There was nothing about her that spouted ‘I’m a werecat, hear me roar!” at all. But to Waverly, that itself was suspicious. _Nobody _was that normal, there was always at least one thing that was weird about you.___ _

____Deciding that that was what made Nicole suspicious Waverly slammed her laptop shut, a yawn escaping her as she stretched her arms and back. Her stomach decided to growl then, reminding her that she had neglected to eat anything for hours in her quest to find out more about Nicole._ _ _ _

____She unlocked her door and peeked her head out of her room. When there was no immediate spotting of Wynonna she creeped out of the room and down the stairs. She usually didn’t try to avoid Wynonna like this but ever since they had gotten home Wynonna had been pestering her about what she was hiding in her room about. Waverly would have told her but Wynonna had already demonstrated how terrible she was at keeping secrets, or even knowing that a secret is, in fact, a secret. Sometimes she acts without thinking._ _ _ _

____Waverly had a feeling that if she had told Wynonna that she suspected that Nicole was the cougar the whole of Black Badge would have been privy to that information by the end of the day. And Nicole would have been in danger, Dolls had already shown a willingness to shoot her before and he would probably demonstrate that again._ _ _ _

____As Waverly crept down she forgot to avoid that one creaky stair that all staircases tended to have. When she realized she hoped that it wouldn’t do the one thing it was good at but of course it did. Immediately afterward Wynonna’s head shot up from behind the couch._ _ _ _

____“Waverly?”_ _ _ _

____Waverly hummed in response, hurriedly rushing down the stairs and into the kitchen. There was no use trying to be quiet if the person you were trying to avoid already knows you’re there. She rummaged in the fridge to gather herself a quick snack that would tide her over until the morning._ _ _ _

____Wynonna wandered into the kitchen, her steps kind of lazy which showed that she had been drinking a bit. Still drinking, if the bottle of cheap wine in her grasp meant anything. “So you finally want to tell me what you were doing upstairs?”_ _ _ _

____“Nope,” Waverly responded blatantly. “Not at all.”_ _ _ _

____Wynonna squinted her eyes and Waverly had a feeling it was mostly because she couldn’t really see in her drunken haze. “Fine then, keep your secrets for now.”_ _ _ _

____Waverly glanced up at that, shocked that Wynonna was giving up that easily._ _ _ _

____“But,” Wynonna started. Waverly internally sighed because of course, it was never actually that easy. “I have some info that you might be interested in. It’s about your friend the cougar. Dolls told me not to tell you but that didn’t feel right. We don’t keep secrets.”_ _ _ _

____At the mention of Rubrum Waverly’s head snapped up, she groaned at herself as Wynonna smirked knowing that she had her._ _ _ _

____“Fine,” Waverly grunted. “I’ll tell you but you have to tell me what Dolls told you first.”_ _ _ _

____Wynonna leaned against the doorway and took a swig from her bottle of wine, “He told me that he was thinking of reconsidering killing Rubtequila. Said that since it has an attachment to you that it could be useful in some cases. That maybe we could recruit it and have it help out.”_ _ _ _

____Waverly’s heart jumped in her chest, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why wouldn’t Dolls want me to know that?”_ _ _ _

____Wynonna shrugged, “He hasn’t decided yet on whether that’s what he wants to do or not. He’s still debating and didn’t want to get your hopes up or anything. We can all see how much that cat means to you and didn’t want you to be hurt. I knew it would hurt more though if you didn’t know at all.” Erasing the somewhat somber tone the conversation had taken, Wynonna slapped her palm heavily against the wall beside her. “Now it’s your turn.”_ _ _ _

____For a moment Waverly debated on whether or not to tell Wynonna the truth. She could always make up a believable lie and Wynonna would just roll with it but seeing how she had just been honest with her Waverly felt that Wynonna deserved the same. “I think I know who Rubrum is. In human form, I mean.”_ _ _ _

____****_ _ _ _

____It had been a few days since Waverly had told Wynonna what she suspected and two weeks since either of them have seen Rubrum. The lack of any new information or sight of the cougar, of course, meant that both of them spent an inordinate amount of time staring at the rookie officer, Nicole. Waverly had even started hanging out in the general precinct to make sure she had optimal time to look at Nicole. She had even claimed an unused desk to place her files that were safe to be discovered but still necessary for Black Badge. In the name of research, of course._ _ _ _

____The redhead, of course, took it all in stride. Every time she caught them staring at her she would just smile, her dimples practically popping out of her cheeks. If it was just Waverly she caught staring at her she would throw in a wink for good measure._ _ _ _

____Whenever that happened, Waverly would end up blushing and ducking her head down. So _maybe _she was starting to develop a crush on Nicole, sue her. Who wouldn't develop a crush on someone like that, especially when it sometimes appeared that they looked at you like you put the stars and the clouds in the sky?___ _ _ _

______It couldn't go further than a crush though, Waverly was adamant about that._ _ _ _ _ _

______Nicole, however, didn't seem to get the memo. Whenever she felt bold enough and Waverly was alone, the redhead would swagger over and start flirting with her. Waverly really wished she wouldn't, she was making it so hard to resist the temptation. One of the _many _good things that came out of Nicole doing this was that Waverly was able to observe her in the process.___ _ _ _ _ _

________Things that she noticed so far:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________1\. Nicole was really attractive. This one was kind of a given but definitely needed mentioning._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________2\. Nicole sometimes winced when she walked, a hand drifting up to soothe away a pain on her stomach that Waverly suspected was the result of a huge gash._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________3\. When she smiled, not only did dimples appear but so did sharper than normal canines. It was both a beautiful and deadly smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________4\. Nicole was really attractive. (She felt like that deserved mentioning twice. It was really unfair how someone could be that attractive. She's just going to chalk it up to whatever supernatural mumbo jumbo Nicole had going on.)_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Nicole drifted passed her, a smile gracing her face when she saw that Waverly was watching. "Hi," she greeted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Hi," Waverly whispered back, following Nicole with her eyes as she entered the file room in the back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________"Psst," Waverly heard from behind her. "Pssssst."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Glaring she turned around to look at Wynonna who was peeking her head out of the Black Badge Division office. They had only been in the police station for five minutes and already "You know you make more noise doing that then you would have by just saying my name."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Wynonna just shrugged in response, "I don't care. Just come on already. There's something I think you need to see."_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Waverly rolled her eyes, getting up to go see what Wynonna wanted. If she didn't do it now then Wynonna would just spend the whole day annoying her until she did. She had enough experience with her sister to know that that was exactly what would happen._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________She entered the room to see something that made her question everything she thought she had known. Made her question whether she actually knew anything at all, if everything was just a figment of her imagination._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

There, in a huge cage in the center of the room, was a cougar pacing back and forth. It had _red _fur.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so tired but it's done. As I wise character on a TV show that I'm pretty sure is Kim Possible once said, "Booyah!"

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on tumblr: unorganizedletters


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